How to Password Protect Folders and Files in Windows 10

Do you want to password protect a folder in Windows 10? Looking for a way to hide files and folders on Windows 10? When you have any file or folder you want to keep away from prying eyes, this post main teach you an easy way to hide and password protect files, folders in Windows 10.

Method 1: hide files and folders using File Explorer

The easiest way to keep content hidden is using File Explorer.

Open File Explorer.
Navigate to the file or folder you want to hide.
Right-click the item and click on Properties.
On the General tab, under Attributes, check the Hidden option.
Click Apply.
If you're hiding a folder with files and subfolders, make sure to select the Apply changes to this folder, subfolders, and files option.
Click OK.
Click OK again to complete the task.
Once you've completed the steps, the hidden items will not be visible anymore, because by default Windows 10 doesn't show hidden files.

If you want to access your hidden items you'll have to type the complete path to the hidden folder or file you want to open and press Enter. For example: C:\Users\admin\Desktop\Files\Secret Files\Great Secret.txt.

Or you can open File Explorer, click on the View tab and make sure to check the Hidden items option. Then you can browse your hidden items as you would normally do with other content.

At any time, you can make the files and folders visible again by using the same steps mentioned above, but this time on step 4 make sure to clear the Hidden option.

Note: If you hide folders using File Explorer, this way security level is very Low, anyone with the tiniest bit of know-how can easily find them. In order to hide or lock files, folders in Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows XP, you must to use a professional File Lock tool.